Towanda Braxton wears her “Loud and Proud” costume

Alopecia isn’t any obstacle for actress Towanda Braxton, who publicly shares her hair journey within the hopes of inspiring others that suffer from the condition.

The 50-year-old TV personality spoke about her diagnosis through the Aug. 8 premiere on the West Cultural Arts Center. “I have alopecia areata and I just wear it loud and proud,” Towanda said I used to be told in regards to the diagnosis discovered it because of doctors. Baldness, which Pfizer found it disproportionately affects black people greater than their white counterparts, is an autoimmune disease that causes hair loss in clumps or larger areas of the scalp or body.

Learning from her doctors about her alopecia diagnosis was a relief for the truth star. “…I was like, ‘Okay, I hate to be right, but I was right,’ you know?” she said, noting that there are several types of alopecia that folks experience as a consequence of the immune system attacking hair follicles. The star shared some advice, saying, “Find out which type you have. So just in case you have kids, they’ll know how to treat it.”

American Academy of Dermatology 2023 Report It has been revealed that the issue of hair loss affects almost 15% of black women in the middle or crown of the pinnacle, often known as central centrifugal scarring alopecia (CCCA). According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, black women are vulnerable to traction alopecia, a form of hair loss brought on by heat, chemicals, and several hairstyles, corresponding to braids, extensions, and dreadlocks, that may pull hard on the hair roots and cause tension. Dermatologist Crystal Aguh, who makes a speciality of hair loss, suggests looser, protective hairstyles and removing extensions after some time.

For Towanda, who currently boasts a shaved head, “being bald is amazing.” However, she confirmed in a recent interview that she initially shaved her head in solidarity when her late sister Traci Braxton, who died in 2022, fell in poor health. “I shaved it then, and then the whole trip I didn’t have any hair, but you didn’t know I didn’t have any hair,” she said.

Sitting next to her sister Trina Braxton, Towanda revealed that fans will get the possibility to see exclusive footage of her tufts of hair as she shares moments from her battle with alopecia areata in the brand new season, which airs August 9 at 9:30 p.m. on We TV